Thanks for sharing all your thoughts and feelings guys. I have struggled with this in a similar way as well. I shot a young doe a couple of weeks back that fell within sight, but then flailed around for what seemed like and eternity. She let out the loudest, longest bleat I have ever heard. The sound killed me. It literally broke my heart. I couldn't even enjoy my success because I felt so terrible about the experience. That night, I wrote in my journal about it, even considered giving up the sport, but the next day I started to feel a little better. I have not had the opportunity to take another shot since, so I don't know if I will struggle to do it or not. I hope not, but I sure hope I never have to hear that sound again. I also had a similar experience while dove hunting earlier this fall. I hit a bird but didn't kill it. I had to finish it off with my bare hands. All in all, I think that negative or sad feelings after a kill is natural and is just shows that you respect the animals in which you hunt.

My pursuit of a buck of a lifetime is much like the Chicago Cubs pursuit of a World Series...the season ends with a "wait til next year"

Imagine how that animal would have suffered if you hadn't finished it. As hunters it is our job to make as quick and humane a kill as possible. Even though that doesn't always happen, it shows responsibility and respect for the animal to follow up in any way necessary. I rifle-shot a 7 point buck five years ago that dropped instantly in some heavy weeds. I got to it and realized that the deer was not done yet, we both knew what was going to happen next and he let out a bawl that will always be in my soul. I do my best to make every shot count so I never hear that or put an animal in the position to make that sound again. This is going to sound strange, but if I was being hunted, I would want to be dispatched by someone who was going to do it the most efficient way possible. To be there one second and gone the next.

I know a man who saw a big buck get struck by a vehicle. The driver left the scene and this man got a light out of his car and found the buck, which was struggling to get away on broken limbs & other injuries. He called the police who said they'd have someone there "in a few minutes". Forty minutes later, this guy finished the deer with a handgun that he kept in the trunk because he couldn't stand to see & hear the buck's struggles. Of course, the Law arrived about the time the sound of the shot quit echoing and the officer started giving the man grief about what he'd done. The man told the officer that he couldn't watch that animal suffer any longer and if there were any fines or fees, he'd gladly pay them just to end the ordeal. He waited for a Highway Patrol officer to give him a permit to possess a road-killed deer. Years later the buck's rack was scored and it would have made the B & C book.

Compassion is not a bad trait to possess. Good for you for caring. Deer are more than moving targets. I watch & feed deer daily and have known some since they were a couple of weeks old. They each have different personalities. Some deer are my friends and I would never hunt anywhere near my house because of that. It would be like hunting someone's pet dog. There is a doe here I call Sally who has been coming here for 7 years since she was in spots. It makes my day to see her & have her take food from my hand. Since I take from somewhere, I give back somewhere too. The fact is that their numbers have to be controlled and it doesn't hurt that they are high protien, low fat, and tasty.

At some point in your hunting career you will have to deal with some unpleasant situations which you may or may not be responsible for. That's part of being at the top of the food chain and accepting the role of hunter. Some people will step away, some will not. How you handle it is up to you.

I'll attach a picture of a little buck I named Sonny, who went his own way shortly after he polished his first set of antlers. He was also a daily visitor and would only come to me and avoided my wife & all others for whatever reason. He was 3-4 weeks old at the time of the picture. I hope he's still out there and has gotten to maturity.

i to had to finish one off with a knife about three years ago it is a sickening feeling that you get it took me about a year to get over it but if you think about it the animal would suffer longer than it did if you did not do that i have messed up hunts becasue of seeing sick rabbied coons possums foxs and have wasted (well not wasted because the animal went to good use) on hurt deer all other opions aside you put something out of the missory it was in. The same people that would hound you and tell you you did something horrible are more than likely hypocrits. Meaning that if them or one of their love ones was suffering on life support wouldn't they want "the cord pulled"? some are going to say yes and im sure this deer want the "cord pulled" as well. sleep easy my friend and continue with your hunts!

I havn't had an experience like yours, but I guess one that is somewhat similar. I wont shoot a doe if I know it has fawns anymore. I've had two experiences where the fawn stays around and bleats while looking for it's mother. I can still hear that sound and I don't like it at all. They say that the fawns are old enough to survive on their own by the time our season rolls around, but that just doesn't seem to be enough justification for me anymore. To be honest, I'd rather take the fawn now if I had to choose.

Hunt4fun That would be a tough drag for me also.. Knowing I left a fawn orphaned,and bletting for a mother that she will never find. I can only imagine what goes through their minds, they are raised and protected by a mother that has done everything thus far for them up to the point where you layed her to rest..

I better quit visiting this site! Id be done sold all my equipment..

Cut-N-Run thats a neat pic,and I hope its well and jumping also..............................

ORIGINAL: hunt4fun

I havn't had an experience like yours, but I guess one that is somewhat similar. I wont shoot a doe if I know it has fawns anymore. I've had two experiences where the fawn stays around and bleats while looking for it's mother. I can still hear that sound and I don't like it at all. They say that the fawns are old enough to survive on their own by the time our season rolls around, but that just doesn't seem to be enough justification for me anymore. To be honest, I'd rather take the fawn now if I had to choose.

I had it happen twice. first doe i shot with a shotgun fell over but did not die. I didn't know what to do but I knew i didn't want to hear that bawling sound any longer.... She was kicking a bit and I did not want to get struck so I ran in and stabbed right through the heart. She was gone in just a minute or two....

SoIllDawg, I know it is illegal to kill roadkill in IL but I actually hit a yearling on my way to hunt last year. she was bleeding internally and her legs were broke. I called it in and the police were 20 minutes away. I told them i was going to put it down with my knife and they never questioned me. hard to do but it's the right thing in the end....

I wouldn't count on that too much. I had a police man that would not finish off a crippled deer. When ever they fire their weapon they have to fill out an extensive report. I guess a lot would depend on the individual officer.

If one expects to continue to hunt, one has to learn to live with doing things that are not easy to do, of most people. Things are not always going to go as expected, and things can and are going to "happen" at times, and we have to be man enough to finish things. Unfortunitly, it is part of hunting. Just knowing, that you helped to end the suffering as quickly as possible, no matter what the circumstances should put your mind at rest.

It has been at least 14 years since I have heard a deer "cry". To this day that sound is ever present in my mind. Never do I want to hear it again. Thankfully I haven't. The one I did hear was a 129lb doe that I shot on a dead run. She snuck right in on me and was only 15 feet from me when I finally saw her. As I slowly shouldered my shotgun she spooked and started to bolt. After several shots [clean misses] I aimed about 4-5ft in front of her as she ran and my shot connected. Unfortunatly it hit her hip dropping her instantly. I actually thought that that last shot had missed as well and that she had ran out of site until I heard that her "cry". Instantly I knew that I had made a bad shot and instead of waiting to go find her I immediatly headed toward the last spot I saw her. Within 2 minutes I saw her both her hind legs were flat out on the ground and she was trying to crawl using her front legs. Not wanting her to suffer any longer I ran up to her and ended her suffering with a 3"mag slug point blank to the skull. Not an easy or pretty thing but did the job that needed to be done. At 75-100 yrds. squiessing the trigger is easy at point blank pulling it is very hard.